late fee

i have had it with late payers! this year i will bill on the first and payment will be do on the 15. if not received by the 30th a late fee will be added. maybe that will motivate client to pay on time. what percentage of the bill should the late fee be?

Instead of a late fee, next yr try a discount for prompt payment. Other industries have traditionally given a 1% to 2% disc for payment within 10 days. We give a 5% disc for 10 days, and rarely have anything go over that. But then you have to adjust your list price accordingly. Will be most successful with residential, may be a problem with commercial, because your list price is 1%, 2%, or 5% higher than others at same real cost. If you do this, be careful how you figure pricing, especially on materials resold.<p>----------<br>Jim<br>North central Indiana<br>

Why should you give a discount and lose money no other companies give me a discount for paying on time you just do it. Why not make some money and make it a good thing getting into someones wallet will usally do the trick<br>

Check with your local, state law. Some states you cannot legally charge a late fee or you must disclose the late fee charge with every invoice. <p>What works for me is I charge interest instead of late fee. 22% 24%. Do your invoices state that the bill is due by a certain date? (Nice thing about a computerized billing system.) Have you stated your billing policy?? Immediate suspension of service with possible termination has worked well for me. Another thing that you can do is personally go collect the fee. Your putting effort to collect this fee RIGHT? Call it a service fee. Anybody complains tell him or her that you used your time, your gas, ect . Always going to have late payers. That's part of any business. Always the same people. What i have found for being in business, renters, people who work for other people, are the ones who pay late. People who are self-employed are the ones who pay you the next day. I DID NOT MEAN TO OFFEND ANYONE WITH MY ABOVE STATEMANT, BUT THIS STATEMANT IS TRUE IN MY PATICULAR CASE.<br>Jean<br><p>----------<br>J-LC Landscaping & Maintenance Gardening<br>C-27 Ca Contr# 770044